VIPD Commissioner Responds To Letter

Dear Tradewinds Reader, The purpose of this correspondence is in response to your open letter printed in St. John Tradewinds February 13-19 issue. I fully appreciate your concerns. Please be advised that I take this complaint very seriously as it is antagonistic to Virgin Islands Police Departmental Policy.

There are differing procedures that call takers follow in taking information, and these vary according to the nature and priority of the call itself: Is the call an emergency? Does it need to be referred to an outside agency? Or, can the information be handled by someone within the department over the telephone. Much of this is left to the discretion of the dispatcher to determine how the call should be handled.

In order for me to take the most effective action, please provide me with the following informationnature of complaint; date of initial complaints and additional dates of subsequent complaints; name(s) of responding officer(s), and; any other pertinent information. In reference to your 911 call, those calls are routed through Central Dispatch on St. Thomas or St. Croix, not Leander Jurgen Command.

I have appointed Ms. Kim Lyons as the St. John liaison for the Office of Police Commissioner. Her contact information is 693-8880 ext. 5219 or via email at Kim.Lyons@VIPD.GOV.VI. Ms. Lyons is empowered to act as a representative of the Office of Police Commissioner. Feel free to call on Ms. Lyons for additional support.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I look forward to a swift resolution.